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The room they had been assigned was tiny, and Rose thought that if she was feeling claustrophobic, then goodness knows how the Doctor was feeling. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, watched him rub awkwardly at his neck. Bumping his shoulder with hers, she said, “Come on, let’s have a nap, yeah? You look exhausted.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to nod off, to be honest,” he sighed, sitting down on the edge of the small bunk. He drew his hand across his face tiredly, then looked around the room, his nose wrinkling. “Not the best abode we’ve slept in.”
“It’s just for tonight,” Rose said, sitting down next to him. “We’ll get the TARDIS back, you’ll see.”
The Doctor’s jaw tightened. “Rose…”
She placed her hand over his, where it was fisted on his thigh. He unclenched his fist and let her interlink their fingers. “We will. Bet you we will. We’ve just got to get them onside, you know? So that they divert the drilling for us.”
He gave her a small smile. “Mmm.”
Rose tilted her head to rest on his shoulder. They sat there in silence for a couple of minutes. When Rose squeezed his hand, he squeezed back. She did it again, and he repeated the action, faster, and soon they were chuckling as they made a game of it. Eventually, he let go of her hand to draw her into a hug, which then turned into her pulling him down next to her on the bed so they could get comfy. Arms securely around one another, they lay there quietly, and the lights dimmed. Once it was completely dark in the room, the Doctor buried his nose in Rose’s hair, breathing her in. She pressed her lips to his chest, not quite a kiss, and he trailed one hand up from where it rested on her lower back to her face, cupping her cheek and tilting her head up. “I’m so sorry, Rose,” he whispered. “I knew the TARDIS was feeling queasy; that should’ve told me there was something wrong. We shouldn’t have stayed here.”
“Are you forgetting that I wanted to come? That we both laughed it off and basically told trouble to bring it on?”
He sighed, and she felt his warm breath flow across her face. “I’m still sorry.”
“Yeah, well so am I,” she said softly. “But that don’t matter. What matters is, we’re here, together, and we’re gonna sort it. All right?”
He nudged her nose with his. “All right.”
Rose’s heart started to race as she realised his proximity. They had always been close, always been a bit tactile with one another, but she couldn’t remember them lying quite like this before. She knew she probably shouldn’t read too much into it; he was seeking her comfort, just as she was seeking is, because of their lost ship. But when he stroked her cheek with his thumb, when he moved his fingers down, tracing along her jaw, down her neck - she couldn’t repress the shiver that went through her. She couldn’t see his expression, it was too dark, but she knew he had better night-vision and could probably read her face clear as day, so she averted her eyes. His hand settled on her upper arm, holding her bicep in a gentle grip, and Rose thought that was that. But then he shifted slightly, finding her lips with his, and gave her the most tender, innocent kiss Rose thought she’d ever experienced.
“Doctor - ” she whispered, when he pulled away. But then his mouth moved to hers again, slanted at an angle this time, and she returned the pressure, kissing him back. She was all ready to part her lips and seek out his tongue, but he ended the kiss too swiftly, moving his lips to her cheek and then her forehead. He hummed quietly, almost contentedly, and shifted to lie on his back, encouraging her to rest her head on his chest. Rose was too shy to question his actions, too nervous to ask for more.
"You’d better get some sleep," he murmured.
Her heart quite possibly in her throat, Rose nodded against his chest, and said not a word.
::
It was an unspoken thing, after that. Once they’d got the TARDIS back, vanquished Satan’s body and mind independently, and then reunited in a hug that squeezed the breath out of them both, the Doctor set Rose back on her feet and leant down for a kiss. To say Rose was surprised didn’t half cover it. She’d thought that maybe, before, he’d just taken the chance because it was dark and because they’d thought their life had drastically changed course. Now, though, things were back on track, and he still -
He released her lips, then said, quite casually, “Right-o, I’d better get out of this thing and then we can say our goodbyes over the tanoy.” He started stripping off the spacesuit, and Rose just stared at him. When it came to them saying goodbye to Ida and the others, Rose was so caught up in the emotions of the day (and previous night) that she could barely keep it together when the Doctor pronounced the pair of them to be the stuff of legends. As soon as he turned off the comms, she threw herself into his arms again, and he swept his hands up and down her back soothingly.
"Hey, it’s all right," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her temple. "We’re all right."
"I know," she said, nodding as she pulled back. "Sorry, I just…" She sniffed, and wiped at her eye. "I dunno. Just being daft."
"No you’re not," he assured her, stroking her hair back from her face. "Blimey, Rose, you were so brave out there. I’m sorry you had to go through all that."
"Not your fault," she reminded him, and he heaved a sigh. She smoothed her hands over his jacket lapels. "I was really scared," she admitted. "When Ida said you fell, I thought…but I just…I wanted to stay, didn’t want to leave you even if…"
"I know," he whispered, pulling her into another hug. "We’ll take a few days off, yeah? Just float in the vortex for a bit. Spend - spend some time together." His voice caught. "Just us."
"Really?"
"Really."
"That’s…that’d be nice. Thanks, Doctor."
He tilted his head back and cupped her cheeks with his hands. “Rose,” he whispered. His thumb stroked across her bottom lip, and he met her eyes. “Is this…?”
On a surge of courage, Rose stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, this time, just as softly as he had done before. But then, with a slight groan against her mouth, he parted his lips, deepening the kiss. She leant her bum against the console when her knees started to shake a little, and he secured her there with his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. After a while, though, when Rose pulled her mouth away to breathe, she felt completely overcome with exhaustion. The Doctor sensed this immediately.
"Bedtime for the human," he smiled, moving to her side so that she could propel herself forwards from against the console. He tucked her into his side and they walked along the corridor to her room, with Rose making half-hearted protests about how she wasn’t actually tired and could probably stay up and talk for a bit. The Doctor wasn’t having any of it, and chuckled at her when she almost tripped over her own feet. “You are definitely ready for sleep,” he insisted, guiding her into her bedroom.
She crawled onto her bed without taking her clothes off, telling herself she’d do all that, shower and everything, in the morning. The Doctor watched her settle beneath the duvet, a fond expression on his face. He wished her a good night, then turned to leave, but hesitated, his hand on the doorknob.
"Rose," he began, turning around. "Would it be all right if I stayed in here, tonight? For a bit? I can sit in the armchair, or…"
Rose smiled to herself sleepily and lifted the duvet up, a silent invitation. He toed off his converses, removed his jacket and tie, and slipped in beside her. She instantly curled into him like she had done on the Base, and the Doctor even managed to catch a few hours sleep himself.
::
Every few nights or so for the following couple of weeks, the Doctor joined her in her room, in her bed. They cuddled and kissed and sometimes, if Rose was really lucky, he’d squeeze her bum a bit during a snog. One night, though, Rose wanted to know something. She wasn’t sure where things were going, and she just - she didn’t mind if he answered her with something she didn’t quite agree with herself, she really didn’t. She just wanted to know.
“Can I ask you something?” she murmured into the darkness.
He turned onto his side to face her, letting his hand reach out to rest on her belly. Absent-mindedly, he stroked his thumb across the dip of her navel. “Of course,” he mumbled sleepily. “What is it?”
Rose bit into her bottom lip, hesitant about voicing her question. “It’s just. I don’t want you to feel like I’m…putting pressure on you, or anything.”
“Whatever it is,” he said, shuffling closer, his nose nudging her shoulder, “Just say it.”
“Promise you won’t sulk or…leave the room?”
“Blimey,” he muttered, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes, trying to wake himself up a bit more. The TARDIS knowingly turned on the lights above the headboard of the bed, but only dimly, just enough that they could see each other. “What on earth’s wrong?”
Rose sat up too, turning into him and nervously fiddling with the buttons on his pyjama top. “I’ve been thinking about…us. And the kissing thing we’re doing.”
His brow furrowed. “What, you want to stop?”
“Nooo, no,” she assured him, starting to laugh. “No way.”
“Then…?”
“I know it’s only been a few weeks of us snogging and sharing a bed and all that, but, well, I was just wondering whether there was anything…else, that we could, um…” she trailed off at his blank look.
“Rose?” he prompted.
She smiled at him shyly. “Look, it’s fine if you don’t want that, but, I s’pose we haven’t really talked about anything and…I’d just like to know if this was going anywhere else or if we’re just gonna stick with this, what we have. Which is great! And I don’t mind if that’s the case, if that’s all you want to do, but, um. Just wanted to let you know that if you did want to make a move, then it’s…completely welcome.”
“Ohhh,” he breathed out roughly. “You’re talking about - er.” He lowered his voice. “Being physically intimate with one another.”
Rose pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh at his expression. “Sort of, yeah. Is that something you would like? And be honest, okay, ‘cos…I don’t want you doing something you don’t wanna do, just to please me.”
His lips twitched slightly. “I’d like to please you,” he replied, lifting an eyebrow.
She rolled her eyes. “Come on, cut out the flirting and just be honest with me, yeah?” She smiled at him to soften her words, and he tugged on his ear as he prepared his answer.
“I don’t really know what to say,” he admitted. “It’s…what we’ve got right now, it’s lovely, it’s…I like being close to you. What we have at the moment is already very intimate, from my perspective.”
Rose nodded. “So, you just - you don’t want to go any further?” He sucked in a breath, tilting his head slightly, and she quickly reached up and cupped his cheek, turning him to face her. His skin felt warmer than usual, and she belatedly realised he was blushing. “Hey, it’s all right. I already said it’s fine if that’s - I know you’re not used to all this. I don’t mind. Just wanted to know, that’s all.”
His eyes flickered between hers as he searched her gaze. Then he smiled. “I appreciate that you’re sweet enough to say those things, Rose, but if I’m gonna be honest with you then you’ve got to be honest with me, too. I know you have a, ahem, a healthy sexual appetite, and you don’t need to pretend that you don’t.”
Her eyes widened slightly. She dropped her hand from his cheek to his chest, and felt the way his hearts sped up beneath her fingertips. “How do you know that?”
He cleared his throat. “Well, a combination of an educated guess considering your age, species, and the century you’re from, and…I can sort of tell. Heightened senses, I’ve got.” He looked a bit sheepish. Rose gulped.
“You mean, you can tell when I’m…”
“Aroused? Yes. I can’t help it, it’s - I don’t know, it’s hard to tune it out these days.”
Rose blinked at him in silence for a second, then brought both hands to her face with a groan. “Oh, my god. This is so embarrassing.”
“No it isn’t,” he insisted. “Rose - don’t - you’ve no need to be embarrassed, it’s perfectly natural for you to feel the way you feel.”
“But if you can tell, then…” She frowned suddenly. “So, either, it doesn’t bother you because you don’t want that anyway or it does bother you and you’re just too nice to tell me to stop being such a randy ape.”
The Doctor chuckled. “Of course it doesn’t bother me. Not in that way, I - it can be distracting, a little, certainly. But that’s not your fault, that’s just because I - ”
“Because you what?” she rushed in.
He shifted down so that he was horizontal again, resting his head on the pillow, and tugged on her waist, turning her onto her side and encouraging her to move too. She did, and they lay there, heads close together, staring at one another for a few moments. “I gather that you’re aware that I don’t really engage in…that activity all that often.”
“Yeah, but, not really sure why.”
The Doctor shrugged a shoulder. “Time Lords live much longer lives than humans - there’s not so much urgency to procreate and all that. Plus, we didn’t really do the reproduction thing in the same way as you lot do…but that’s another story. The thing is - ”
“Okay, but wait, what about sex just for fun? Not to…pop out babies, but just…”
“Well, it’s all linked in, really, because seeing as we didn’t really need it biologically-speaking, our sex drives weren’t particularly high.”
“That makes sense,” Rose allowed.
“Mm.” He moved his hand from her waist to her lower back, fingers trailing across the base of her spine.
“But you haven’t been celibate your whole life,” she pointed out.
“No. But sexual intercourse is a much less regular occurrence for me. And it’s been…” he let out a whoosh of breath. “It’s been a very long time.”
“Does that mean that you’ve not got any interest in it at all?” asked Rose carefully.
“No, it doesn’t mean that. I…do. Have an interest, that is.” He paused, then bumped his nose against hers playfully. “That interest is you.”
Her lips curved into a small grin. “So…?”
“There’s something I need to say, though, before - well. I just need to, er, discuss expectations.”
“How do you mean?”
“I’m gonna need you to be…” He sniffed, wincing as he continued, “Patient, let’s say. As I mentioned, it’s been a couple of hundred years and - ”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. And so, it’ll be…well, it’s…we’ll need to practise. I’ll need to practise, I mean.”
Rose snorted. “You don’t have to worry, you know. It’s not like I’m used to blokes holding out for very long anyway. Been left hanging a lot in my time…”
The Doctor frowned. “Well, what’s been their excuse?” he said in dismay.
“I dunno, hormones I s’pose.”
“What, and they just expect - ”
“Teenage boys can be a bit…single-minded, sometimes, that’s all. It’s no big deal.”
“It sounds very selfish of them,” he scoffed. “I think you ought to have lodged some complaints.”
Rose laughed. “If I’d’ve said anything, that would’ve done their egos right in. Couldn’t deal with that, the sulking would’ve been unbearable.”
“Well I can assure you that once I’ve got, er - what’s that expression you lot use - ah, yes - once I’ve got ‘back in the saddle,’ there will be no need for you to be left unsatisfied. In fact, there’s no need for that whilst I’m still,” he sniffed again, still reluctant to admit that this wasn’t something he was particularly adept at, “Getting used to things. Plenty of other ways for me to show you my…appreciation.”
Giggling, Rose undid the top button of his pyjama top to touch the bit of chest hair that had been taunting her all day; he’d worn a shirt and no tie today, and it had been maddening. “Your appreciation, hmm?”
The Doctor pressed his palm flat against her tailbone and pushed her hips into his. “Yep,” he grinned. “Got a lot of plans, I have. Just been a bit nervous about implementing them, that’s all.”
“This is really good to hear, you know,” she sighed, sounding relieved. He arched an eyebrow. “Not that I would’ve caused a fuss if you hadn’t said these things,” she rushed to assure him. “Just being with you is…” she trailed off, offering him a small smile. “But, more would be the icing on the cake.”
“You can’t fool me,” he teased. “Before too long you would’ve got fed up with me.”
“But I didn’t even think you’d ever kiss me let alone anything else, and in case you’ve forgotten I did already promise to be with you for the rest of my life.”
“You could’ve done that and still kept along a…” he mock-shuddered, “Human boyfriend.”
“Don’t want one of those,” she grinned. “Got all I need right here. A Time Lord and a spaceship and adventures. No bills or jobs or traffic. The perfect life.”
“It does sound rather nice when you put it like that,” he mused. “I’ve done a good job converting you to this way of living, haven’t I?”
“If you say so,” she laughed. She wrapped her arm around his waist. “So, Doctor?”
“Mm?”
“Do you dream?”
“You know I do,” he said softly, stroking his hand up and down her back. “You’ve heard - ”
Interrupting him gently, Rose confirmed, “No, I know, I didn’t mean the nightmares.”
“Oh, you mean nice dreams?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, sometimes.”
“What about…you know.”
“What?”
She reduced her voice to an almost-embarrassed whisper, “Sex dreams.”
The Doctor chuckled. “Occasionally.”
Rose lifted her hand to his hair, running her fingers through it; she smiled at his intake of breath. She knew he loved her playing with his hair. “Ever dreamt of me?” she murmured.
His eyes fluttered closed, spine tingling at the movements of her fingers. “Yeahhh,” he said quietly, drawing out the word. “Do a lot of day-dreaming about you, too.”
“Really?” She sounded pleased.
He caught her lips in a soft kiss, then whispered, “Oh, yes.”
“Will you tell me what you’ve been thinking, then? These plans of yours…”
The Doctor opened his eyes lazily. “I could be persuaded.”
"Oh, really?" Rose giggled.
"Mmmm. I’m thinking we should make a trade agreement."
"How so?"
"You tell me what you think about when you’re sitting on the jumpseat eyeing my crotch whilst I’m working beneath the console, and I’ll - "
Rose interrupted him with an indignant snort. “I do not do that.”
"You’re a very bad liar," he smirked. "Anyway, you tell me that, and I’ll tell you what my daydreams are made of."
She huffed, then conceded, “Well, all right.”
"Excellent. You first."
"I just sort of wonder what you’ve got going on in there," she said casually, tugging on the waistband of his pants for emphasis.
He frowned. “That’s it?”
"Okay," she sighed heavily. She lowered her voice. "Maybe I also think about what you would do if I crawled over to you and undid your trousers and…"
The Doctor swallowed. “And?”
"And…saw for myself."
“And,” he prompted for more.
"And, well, you know," she murmured, blushing.
"Do I?" he asked, his eyebrows drawing together.
Rose rolled her eyes. “I’m not gonna say it,” she said firmly.
"Oh. That’s a shame," he teased, the corner of his mouth twitching. "S’pose you don’t want to hear all about what my mouth will be getting up to between your thighs, then."
Her mouth dropped open. “What did you just say?” she half-gasped, half-laughed, her wide eyes meeting his darkened ones.
"You heard me," he smiled, then closed his eyes. "Hmm, think I could use a kip - "
"Oh no you don’t," Rose said quickly, with a light smack to his arm. "Don’t fall asleep on me after dropping a bombshell like that."
The Doctor chuckled. “Is it really such a ‘bombshell?’”
"Um, yeah."
He leant in and nuzzled at her jaw, her neck. Kissed his way down to her collar bone, and sucked, lightly. Rose tilted her head back with a small groan. One of his hands sneaked up and cupped one of her breasts, and then his mouth moved down, covering her other and sucking at her nipple through the fabric of her top.
"Oh, god," Rose murmured, squeezing her eyes closed.
"It scares me, you know," he murmured, as he drew her pyjama top over her head and went back to nibbling at her chest.
"Wh-what?" Her fingers swept through his hair, tightening around the strands as his tongue swept along the the underside of her breast.
"How much I want to do all this," he clarified, lifting his head. He met her eyes, but looked nervous about it. "I…shouldn’t really. Shouldn’t want to - shouldn’t think about it so bloody often, but - " He dropped his head again, trailing his nose down her sternum as he shifted further down the bed. "There’s something about you, Rose Tyler. Makes me want to taste every inch of you."
"Doctor," she mumbled, as his tongue dipped into her navel.
He tugged down Rose’s pyjama shorts, and she kicked them away from her legs. “That night on Krop Tor,” he said quietly. “When I kissed you. I - I didn’t mean to, really. But after all I’d done, after all that trouble I dropped you in, you still…blimey, Rose. You were lovely. And you were trying to cheer me up and, I dunno. I wanted to kiss you. I wanted to make love to you.”
Rose stared down at him, where he’d propped himself up on her thighs. “Why didn’t you?”
"I didn’t want it to start like that, I suppose. In that tiny room on that tiny bed." He chuckled to himself. "Also, as we’ve already established this evening, I’m rather nervous about it. Didn’t want it to happen and risk you regretting it." Abruptly, he gripped at the waistband of her knickers, and she dutifully wriggled around to help him get them off her.
"Not gonna regret it," she assured him.
"Good." He lowered his head, and Rose flopped back against the pillows as he began to explore her. His tongue dipped and swirled and Rose gripped the duvet tightly, before returning her hands to his hair, listening as he groaned in encouragement. Her legs moved closer together, pressing against his ears, trapping his head there, and she could feel the brush of his sideburns against her inner thighs.
It didn’t seem like the Doctor had any discernible plan at first; no pattern or rhythm to his movements. He was good at it all the same, his random alternations between moving his tongue inside her and dancing it across her clit building her pleasure higher and higher, quite accidentally. And then unintentionally easing her back down before the peak, keeping her on the edge for ages. Rose loved it, of course, but soon she became impatient, restlessly lifting her hips up and yearning to slip over the precipice. The Doctor chuckled against her, his hands holding her hips firmly, guiding her movements against his mouth as best he could in his position. And then, he lifted one hand off of her, moved her leg away from his head slightly to slip it in between them, and whilst he busied his mouth with suckling on her clit, he slid two fingers inside of her. She swore loudly in surprise, and within seconds she was falling, clenching and writhing, her head turning and pressing into the pillow as she attempted to muffle her groans.
He kept up what he was doing until she couldn’t stand it any longer, and she used her grip on his hair to pull his head away. Smiling slackly at him when he looked up at her, she panted, “That - wow. Wow. Just.”
The Doctor crawled up her body, absently sucking his fingers into his mouth before settling down next to her. “So,” he said, eyes bright as he tugged on his ear. “That was…?”
Rose grinned. “Great.”
"I’m sure with a bit of practice it’ll be more - "
"Doctor," she insisted. "It was amazing."
He smiled, looking quite chuffed. “Oh. Oh, good.” He leant in for a kiss, and when they pulled back, he continued, “That was really fun.”
Rose laughed, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Yeah?”
"Oh yes. So, that was daydream number one. Daydream number two is - "
"Doctor, you’ve got to give me a few minutes to recover," she said, through a giggle.
"Of course! Yes. Right. Well, you just let me know when you are ready for the next one."
"And what about you?"
"I’m, er." He scratched at his neck awkwardly. "This is going to sound silly."
"Tell me."
"I’m trying to, um."
"To what?"
"To build up a bit of immunity, sort of thing."
"What?" she burst out laughing.
"Well, you know. It’s all very - I just need to concentrate on you, for a bit. Before - Rose, stop giggling. I just don’t want to embarrass myself."
She sighed happily and hugged him close. “I really lo- ” she started, then stopped herself sharply, pressing her lips together.
"You really what?" he prompted curiously, when she didn’t continue.
"Nothing."
"No, tell me."
"I just - it doesn’t matter."
They were silent for a few moments. Then the Doctor asked, “Were you going to say…” He tilted his head back to meet her eyes. “Rose, were you going to tell me…”
Both of them knew exactly what she was going to say. And, staring at one another for the next minute or so, they seemed to be patiently waiting for the other to break first, to say it, to admit it.
In the end, the Doctor seemed to get fed up of the stalemate first, and heaved a breath before telling her, “I do as well, you know. You don’t have to - I dunno, hide it, or something, because you think I’ll not…” He paused for a second. “I’m not going to run away, Rose.”
Rose swallowed. “No?”
"No." He leant in, so close that their noses smushed together. "I don’t want to hide it anymore." And then, trailing his lips across her cheek until he reached her ear, he whispered something. And Rose grinned, and gave him her reply.